Heel protector



March 3, 1964 E. GROSSMAN 3,12 48 HEEL PROTECTOR Filed Oct. 4, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 51/54 wv @Pm /V Ai X United States Patent 6 3,122,843 HEEL PRGTECTGR Evelyn Grossman, 8028 Rodney St., Philadelphia, Pa. Filed Oct. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 228,791 2 Claims. (Cl. 36-7.3)

This invention relates to a heel protector of the type disclosed in my patent, No. 2,875,534.

One object of the invention is to produce an improved device of the type set forth.

The device disclosed in said patent includes a generally cup-shaped member which is adapted to receive the tip, or lowermost end of the heel, and is provided with radially inwardly extending flaps which, when the heel is inserted into the cup-shaped member, collapse into the cup-shaped member and frictionally engage the vertical sides of the tip of the heel.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a heel protector having improved means for engagement with the tip of a heel inserted thereinto.

The heel protector disclosed in the patent aforesaid engaged only the lower tip of the heel.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved heel protector which, in addition to providing an auxiliary tread, also protects the rear and/ or the sides of the heel of the shoe from contact with the material of the rain boot which adversely affects satins and other delicate, highly polished materials of which ladies shoes are frequently made.

In rain, or slush, it is necessary to wear rainboots" which are made of rubber or plastic, such as vinyl, and which, to be acceptable to women, are light and flexible. Such boots are not suitable for wearing over shoes provided with the very narrow heels, which are referred to as French heels, because the very narrow tips of the heels will wobble around in the much larger heel cavity provided in boots, and because the narrow tips of the heels will wear a hole in the bottom of the heel cavity of the rainboot.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to provide an improved rainboot having a built-in heel protector which will adapt the heel of a shoe to the heel pocket of the overshoe to anchor the heel of the shoe in the heel pocket of the boot, and which will prevent any direct contact of the lower portion of the heel of the shoe with the material of the rainboot.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying draw ings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged, top plan view of a heel protector embodying the present invention, the same being shown before it is applied to the tip of a heel.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view looking in the direction of line 22 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 1, but showing the protector applied to the heel of a shoe.

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 1, but showing the protector shaped like the heel of a shoe.

FIG. 5 is a view partly in perspective and partly in section, showing the protector of FIG. 1 carried by, or integral with, an upper extension which is adapted to protect the rear and the sides of the heel of the shoe.

FIG. 6 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, showing the protector of FIG. 1, or FIG. 4, incorporated in the heel of a conventional rainboot.

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 1, but showing a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 8-8 on FIG. 7, but showing the parts after the shoe heel is inserted.

FIG. 9 is similar to FIG. 1, but showing another modified form of the invention.

3,122,848 Patented Mar. 3, 1964 FIG. 10 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 10-14 on FIG. 9, but showing the parts after the shoe heel is inserted.

The protector of the present invention may be made of leather, or of rubber, or of nylon, or of any synthetic material such as polyethylene, etc. In any event, it includes a bottom wall 10, and a side wall 12 which is circular in the embodiment of FIG. 1 but which is provided with a flat forward edge 14 in the embodiment of FIG. 4.

Attached to, or integral with, said side wall 12 are vanes 16, which are made of any of the materials mentioned. As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, vanes 16 radiate inwardly from side Wall 12 and are Vertical relative to the bottom 10 of the cup. The bottom edges of vanes 16 are spaced from bottom wall 10 to form a pocket for receiving a metal, or other rigid disc 18. Also, the

' upper edges of vanes 16 are preferably below the upper end of a French heel, vanes 16 bend, as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 3, frictionally to engage the vertical, round surface 20 and flat surface 22 of the heel 24 of the shoe. As stated, the embodiment of FIG. 4 is the same as that of FIG. 1, except that the protector is provided with a fiat inner edge 14 which corresponds to the flat side 22 of heel 24.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the protector of FIG. 1, or of FIG. 3, is carried by, or isattached to, an upper extension, or shield 28, which protects the sides and rear of that portion of the heel which extends above the protector. Shield 28 may be made of any of the materials above mentioned, it only being necessary that it be rigid enough to maintain its upright position. Shield 28 is also preferably somewhat elastic so as snugly to engage the heel.

The embodiment of FIG. 6 shows the protector of FIG. 1, or of FIG. 4, incorporated in the heel pocket 39 of an overshoe 32. This may be done by inserting the assembled protector into the heel pocket of the overshoe, or, as shown, the heel pocket of the overshoe is formed in the shape of a cup and is provided with vanes 16. When incorporated in the heel pocket of an overshoe, the protector anchors the heel 24 to the overshoe and makes walking much easier. It will be noted that metal disc 18 prevents direct contact between the bottom of the heel of the shoe and the bottom 34 of the heel pocket 30.

Vanes 16 and/ or the cup-shaped member itself are resilient, or elastic and springy, so as tightly to hug the lower end of the heel and so as to accommodate heels of slightly varying dimensions.

The embodiment of FIG. 7 includes a cup-shaped member 49, the side wall of which is relatively flexible and inwardly projecting members 42 which may be carried by the side wall, or by the bottom of the cup, and which are relatively rigid whereby, when a shoe heel 24 is inserted into the opening defined by the inner edges of said members, the side wall of the cup does most, or all, of the flexing or stretching and acts as a spring to press the inner edges of member 42 against the sides of the heel. To facilitate insertion of the heel, the inner edges of members 42 are rounded, as at 44. Also, the rounded edges of members 42 eifectively engage the generally concave sides of the heel.

The embodiment of FIG. 9 includes a cup-shaped member 46 which is relatively rigid and inwardly projecting relatively springy members, or fingers 48, which are carried by the side or bottom of the cup-shaped member, or otherwise held in place. In this construction fingers 48 do most of the flexing or compression which the side of the cup stretches imperceptibly, or not at all. The inner 8 edges of spring members 43 are also rounded, as at 50, to facilitate insertion of the heel and to effect better engagement between the heels and the sides of the heel.

On both of the embodiments of FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 the flexibility or stretch differential may be obtained by making the side of the cup of the same material as the heelengaging element, with side of the cup thicker, or reinforced with ribs or inserts, or by reversing the process and making the outer wall flexible and stretchy and making the heel-engaging member of metal or of a relatively hard rubber, plastic, or other synthetic material.

The effect produced when the wall of the cup is stretched is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 8, from which it will be seen that the wall of the cup is flared outwardly from the position illustrated in FIG. 7. In FIG. 10, the wall of the cup retains the position shown in FIG. 9, because all the flexing is done by fingers 48.

This application is a continuation, in part, of my application Serial No. 141,396, filed September 28, 1961, entitled Heel Protector, now abandoned.

What I claim is:

1. A protector for a French type heel which terminates in a very narrow bottom tip, said protector including a bottom wall and a side wall co-acting to define an open-top cup-shaped member adapted to receive the lower end of the heel, and resilient vanes projecting radially inwardly with reference to said side wall for snugly, and

detachably, engaging the side wall of the lower end of said heel, said vanes terminating short of the center of said cup-shaped member, said cup-shaped member having one straight edge corresponding to the forward straight edge of a heel.

2. A protector for a French type heel which terminates in a very narrow bottom tip, said protector including a bottom wall and a side wall co-acting to define an open-top cup-shaped member adapted to receive the lower end of the heel, and resilient vanes projecting radially inwardly with reference to said side wall for snugly, detachably, engaging the side wall of the lower end of said heel, said vanes terminating short of the center of said cupshaped member, and a shield extending upwardly from a portion of the edge of said cup-shaped member for engaging the portion of the heel above the remaining portion of the upperedge of said cup-shaped member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,119,277 Gross Dec. 1, 1914 2,875,534 Grossman Mar. 3, 1959 2,946,139 Slade July 26, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 842,426 Great Britain July 27, 1960 

1. A PROTECTOR FOR A "FRENCH" TYPE HEEL WHICH TERMINATES IN A VERY NARROW BOTTOM TIP, SAID PROTECTOR INCLUDING A BOTTOM WALL AND A SIDE WALL CO-ACTING TO DEFINE AN OPEN-TOP CUP-SHAPED MEMBER ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE LOWER END OF THE HEEL, AND RESILIENT VANES PROJECTING RADIALLY INWARDLY WITH REFERENCE TO SAID SIDE WALL FOR SNUGLY, AND DETACHABLY, ENGAGING THE SIDE WALL OF THE LOWER END OF SAID HEEL, SAID VANES TERMINATING SHORT OF THE CENTER OF SAID CUP-SHAPED MEMBER, SAID CUP-SHAPED MEMBER HAVING ONE STRAIGHT EDGE CORRESPONDING TO THE FORWARD STRAIGHT EDGE OF A HEEL. 